How to Write an Amazing College Essay: 25 Tips
What makes a college essay amazing? More importantly, how can you write an amazing college essay?
For most high school seniors, writing an unforgettable college admission essay may be the most difficult part of the college admissions process.
Writing a great college essay is challenging, even for the best writers. Now that fewer colleges are considering ACT and SAT test scores, there’s even more pressure for prospective students to write an amazing essay for their college application.
That’s because the college essay is the main feature of your college application.
College admissions officers will also be looking at your letters of recommendation, grades, and extracurriculars, but your essay is the most important part of the application process.
Your essay is the part of your application that will take the most thought and creativity to get right.
Your college essay functions as a personal statement. The trick is that you don’t “state” who you are or what you believe.
You use your college essay to tell a compelling story about who you are and what attributes you will bring to college.
Admissions officers read thousands of college admissions essays every year. They see some topics so often they can practically predict what the writer will say next. Some essays are cringe, some are boring, and some are badly written.
To make a positive and lasting impression on the admissions counselors, you want to write a compelling essay that shows your college admissions officer:
- Who you are
- Why you would be you a valuable part of their college community
- That you’re a capable and thoughtful writer
Your college essay is your one chance to present yourself as more than the sum of your test scores and extracurricular activities.
The rest of your application—your transcript, your recommendation letters, your test scores, your activities—tell the story of what you’ve done and the person you have been.
Your college admissions essay is an opportunity to write about how you became the person you are now and who you plan (or hope) to become.
Here are 25 great tips for writing an amazing college essay!
25 tips for writing an amazing College Essay
1. Don’t worry about the prompt
High school students can choose from seven college essay prompts for the Common App essay (and six for the Coalition App essay), each related to different themes.
One option is to write an essay on any topic of your choice.
Simply put, this means that you can write about whatever you want to!
The best way to choose the topic of your college essay is to decide what you want to your college admissions officer to know about you.
If that matches one of the given personal essay prompts, great. If not, that’s fine, because you can write about the topic of your choice.
You don’t need to worry about the prompt.
A good college admissions essay can be about anything that matters to you.
Focus on the story you want to tell. Use your college essay to tell your story.
2. Brainstorm ideas for your college essay
Your college application essay is your chance to tell college the most important things you think they should know about you.
So how do you determine what you want to share about yourself?
Get out your laptop or paper and a pencil. Ask yourself these questions and write down your answers.
- What are significant events that have shaped your life?
- Have you experienced a “turning point” moment?
- What are some of your favorite things? Why do they have meaning to you?
- What are your values? Why?
- What are some themes in your life?
- What are you passionate about?
- Which words define you?
- What are you proud of?
- What has helped you become the person you are now?
Need help choosing a unique college essay topic?
3. Narrow down your potential college essay topics
Look at the answers you just wrote down.
Draw webs, charts, or outlines (or whatever visuals work for you) to explore connections between the ideas.
Jot down examples from your life for each idea. How does each significant event/thing/value show up in your day-to-day life?
Which of these significant elements reflects the story you want to tell your admissions officer?
For example, you may have been impacted by a great challenge, but prefer to focus on your connections to your community.
That’s fine—you don’t have to write the most significant thing that’s ever happened to you. You should choose the theme that communicates the story you want to tell.
4. Think about the values of the college
When you decide to apply to a certain college, you should know what the values of the college are. If you’re not sure, read some of the mailers the college has sent to you or look up their mission statement online.
If you can tell a story that resonates with one or two of the school’s core values, go for it. Demonstrating that your unique qualities and experiences align with the values of your dream school will show that you’re a good fit with that university.
Colleges (especially selective colleges) want to know why they should pick you. What will you offer to campus life at their school?
So if you can write a powerful essay about something that’s a core value for that university, go for it.
For example, If you’re applying to a university where 90 percent of students volunteer, consider writing about how community service has changed you. (Assuming, of course, that you’ve done a lot of community service work during high school.)
5. Start with a great hook
There’s no need to restate the prompt when you begin writing—just dive in with a great hook.
Start your essay with an opening sentence that grabs the admission officer’s attention right away.
You could begin with a juxtaposition, an unexpected statement, evocative imagery, a little-known quote, or a question you often ask yourself.
To capture the attention of the admissions committee, your essay needs a bold beginning that makes them curious about what story your essay is going tell.
Are you having trouble coming up with the perfect first sentence?
Just start writing! You’ll be able to go back and write a great hook later on, once you have the bones of your essay in place.
6. Talk yourself through it
If you’re having trouble getting started or you’re stuck midway through, try talking it out.
Use your phone to make a voice memo or a video where you just talk though your ideas. Pretend you’re telling your story to a friend.
You can capture your ideas (and your phrasing and word choices) anywhere. Then, later, you can decide how to work them into your essay.
This is an easy way to work on your essay when you’re in the middle of doing other things. Sometimes, that’s how you get your best ideas!
7. Be specific
College admission essays aren’t that long—you’ll be limited to a word count of 500-650 words! So choose a topic with a narrow focus and share your point of view on that one specific thing.
Focus on one small detail of an experience or event as the starting point to craft a narrative that weaves in various elements that are important to your story.
Focusing in on a single idea, event, or anecdote will help you stay focused and tell an engaging story. Using specific details will bring your topic to life and capture the readers’ attention.
You can write about one specific event, hobby, favorite thing, personality trait, experience, or place. Through that specific topic, explore the idea of who you are, why you see the world as you do, your strengths and weaknesses, and how you’ve changed over time.
8. Be insightful
Use your college essay to tell a story that shows the admissions office who you are and what matters to you.
Your college essay is different from your list of activities, extracurriculars, and honors. Don’t use your essay to list all those things again.
Good college essays go much deeper than that.
Talk about things you’ve learned, realizations you’ve had, your educational journey, how you’ve connected with others, what’s inspired you and why, and how you set your goals and aspirations for the future.
Your essay isn’t meant to just tell what you’ve done or what’s happened to you. You should reflect on events or experiences. Share what you’ve learned and how you’ve changed as a result.
A thoughtful essay will demonstrate that you can reflect on your experiences and show insight.
9. Tell a good story
Everyone loves a good story! An amazing college essay should tell a captivating story.
Reveal your personal growth and insights through the story you tell. Show the reader how you’ve changed or why you think the way you do through the story arc.
Use imagery, anecdotes, and emotions to tell your story.
Craft a compelling narrative so that one thought flows naturally to another as you tell your story.
10. Be Authentic
To write a compelling story, be yourself. The story you tell should reflect who you truly are.
Write about something important to you. Don’t write about what you think the admissions officers want you to write about. They will be much more interested in what’s actually important to you.
Write in your own voice. Don’t use flowery language or unusual words to try to impress the reader.
Let your sense of humor and your perspective shine through.
Be honest and vulnerable, and write thoughtfully about your chosen topic.
11. You don’t have to share Everything
It’s completely okay if you don’t want to tell the admissions committee about your darkest times.
If you’ve faced personal struggles, that doesn’t have to be the topic of your essay. You may have faced challenges that feel too personal to share, that you’ve still going through, or that you haven’t yet processed.
Even if this is one of the most significant events in your life, you can write about something else entirely.
12. Don’t repeat Yourself
A great personal statement should tell the college admissions committee something about you that isn’t reflected in the rest of your application. It’s a unique opportunity to share your personal story.
Your honors and awards, test scores (if you submit them), grades, and extracurriculars are all noted elsewhere in your application.
Choose to write about something that isn’t listed anywhere else in your application or that is barely mentioned.
Your essay is your chance to show your admissions officer who you are as a person.
(If a college requires additional supplemental essays, write about a different topic than the one you choose for your main personal statement. You don’t want to repeat yourself in those extra essays either!)
13. Start early and take your time
Senior year is really busy! For many high school students, the hardest part of the essay writing process is getting started.
So start early, when you have plenty of time before you have to click the submit button.
Ideally, you’ll start your common app essay in the summer after your junior year to allow for plenty of time to brainstorm, write, and revise.
If at all possible, you want to have your essay ready to go in August when the Common App opens so you can start your college applications without the added stress of school.
If you’re applying Early Action or Early Decision, you’ll want to have your essay written by early October. Check the deadlines at each college you’re applying to, because every university has different due dates.
Even if you don’t start that early, please give yourself enough to make revisions. Your essay will be better for it.
The college admission process is stressful no matter what. Allowing yourself plenty of time to work on your essay will really help.
14. Write Your first draft
In the end, your essay should be about 650 words (and no fewer than 500). But when you first start writing, don’t hold back.
Write as much as you need to write to tell your story. Your first draft should be longer than you want your finished essay to be.
Get all of your ideas out on the page. It’s perfectly fine to start with a first draft of 1000 words or more. Once you’ve said what you want to say, start to edit out the extra bits and strengthen your storyline.
Also, let your first draft be messy. Get all your ideas about your topic of choice on paper, knowing you will be refining them later. Include as many details as you want now, because later on you can decide which are really the best ones.
15. revise
After you’ve written a first draft of your essay, spend a few days not thinking about your essay. Then, read it through and think about which aspects of the essay work and which don’t.
You may decide to add a few extra sentences or several whole paragraphs. Or you may see that parts of your story no longer seem essential to your point.
You might even find that your essay went in a totally different direction from what you started to write about.
Plan to write several drafts and spend lots of time revising your essay! The best college essays have been revised many, many times!
16. Don’t try to be funny
Your essay should be a natural expression of your own voice. If that happens to come across as funny, that’s great.
But don’t force it. You don’t know the sense of humor of the many people reading your college admissions essay. What you think is hilarious may fall flat or be offensive.
17. End with a Kicker
The best way to leave a lasting impression on the admissions officer reading your essay is to end with a kicker.
A “kicker” kicks your point home. A good kicker provides completeness to your essay. It summarizes the points of your essay and offers the final example of self-reflection that essay readers are looking for.
Your kicker shouldn’t be a trite conclusion. It should provide the “so what?” that connects the dots between your story and your personal growth.
18. Take a Break
It’s a good idea to take a few days away from writing and editing your college essay.
Taking a break from your college essay will give you a chance to get perspective and think critically about what you wrote.
When you come back to your essay and read it again, you’ll notice things you didn’t when you’d been spending a lot of time working on it. And you might have fresh solutions to problems you couldn’t quite solve earlier.
Allow enough time in your writing and revising process to take several breaks from your essay. Reading your essay with fresh eyes will help with the revision process.
19. Read your essay out loud
The best college essay tip might simply be to read your essay out loud.
By reading an essay out loud, you can hear where your wording is clumsy, if it’s not conveying the right message, or when the text is rambling.
The best essays sound natural, like the writers own words are coming to life. It shouldn’t sound like you’re trying to be someone you’re not.
Reading the essay out loud also lets you hear the rhythm and energy of the piece.
20. Pretend to be the reader
Remember that the college admissions counselors who will be reading your essay don’t know you. Be sure that the essay will make sense to them and engage them!
- Did you include enough background information in your essay that a reader who doesn’t know you will be able to follow the story?
- Does the essay’s opening sentence grab the reader’s attention right from the start?
- Is the overall introduction engaging?
- Does the story make sense?
- Could the essay be about someone other than you?
- Do you go off on tangents?
- Is the essay well organized?
- Can the reader draw insights into your character from the story?
- Does the essay have a strong ending?
21. check your sentence structure and word choice
In addition to checking the flow of the story, check the essay’s grammar, sentence structure, and word choice. Be sure you’re within the word limit.
- Does the story flow?
- Is the language awkward or too formal?
- Do you use active voice (not passive voice)?
- Can you replace any vague wording with more specific details?
- Have you used the correct words for your intended meaning?
- Are there any repetitive sentences?
- Did you use transitions between sentences?
- Are any sections unnecessarily long?
22. proofread and polish
After you’ve told the story you want to tell, your last step is to proofread your essay.
Proofreading your personal statement is such an important thing to do! You don’t want any little mistakes to distract from the amazing essay you’ve spent so much time crafting!
- Run spellcheck. Then carefully check for things spellcheck may have missed, like confusing “affect” and “effect” or mistyping “the” instead of “they.”
- Make sure your word choice reflects your intended meaning.
- Check for noun/verb agreement.
- Eliminate passive voice as much as possible.
- Cull unnecessary words and flowery language.
- Check your punctuation.
23. Get feedback from someone you trust
Finally, after you’v’e done your best to edit and revise before asking for another opinion. Then, choose someone who is a strong writer and who knows you well. You might choose your English teacher, a parent, another family member, a friend, or a mentor.
The reader should tell you if the essay is true to who you are. They might have suggestions of things you could include or highlight. Or they might see gaps that you missed, because you’re so close to the story (which would make sense, since it’s your story).
The reader also should be able to point out any errors in grammar or punctuation that you may have missed.
24. Don’t have Someone Else Write Your Essay
No college applicant should let their parent (or anyone else) write their college admissions essay!
Any adult you ask to review your essay shouldn’t offer a heavy-handed edit that dramatically changes your essay. A good essay should actually sound like it was written by a high school student, not an adult!
Instead, your reader should ask questions and give insights that you can use to make your essay even better.
25. Save Unused Ideas for Other Essays
In addition to the main college essay or personal statement, many college will require one or more additional supplemental essays.
Each supplemental essay will be much shorter than your main personal statement.
When you’re thinking of all the things you want the admissions office to know about you, remember that you can write about some of those traits or stories in a supplemental essay.
Final thoughts on writing an amazing college essay
For college applicants, deciding what to write about is the first step to a successful college admissions essay. Don’t worry so much about choosing a prompt as about choosing the story you want to tell.
Choose a topic for your college essay that is truly about you. Focus on one important aspect of your life and fill your essay with details that make your story come alive.
College essays are an essential part of the college application process. It may feel overwhelming to try to write an amazing college essay, on top of SAT or ACT test prep, filling out the Common Application form, keeping up your grades, and participating in your extracurriculars.
However, writing a great essay is your best chance at getting the attention of the admissions committee. College admission counselors want to read unique, authentic essays that demonstrate engagement and reflection.
So, take your time writing and revising. Write about your personal experiences in your own voice. Don’t write what you think colleges want to read. Instead, write about what’s important to you.
Make your essay the best it can be by putting in the time to examine every thought and premise, every word and comma.
Finally, enjoy the process! After all, it’s not often you have the chance to focus on writing about yourself!
